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It wouldn't be American soccer without doing things the hard way

Justin Johnson
12:37 a.m. MDT June 24, 2014

Fans of the U.S. national soccer team watch a live telecast of the group G World Cup match between United States and Portugal, inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday. Portugal managed to score to tie the Americans 2-2 in the last minutes of the game.
(Photo:
AP
)

It just wouldn't be American soccer without having to do things the hard way.

With a chance to lock up a berth in the Round of 16 at this year's FIFA World Cup just seconds away, one missed ball, an uncharacteristic giveaway at midfield, and the chances of the United States Men's National Team advancing are once again on unsettled ground.

In the course of 90 minutes, nervousness became angst, which in turn became relief. Relief became jubilation and celebration, and then in a final turn, disbelief and shock.

It was everything that makes the world's game so beautiful, so intriguing and so maddening.

"These finishes are very emotional for all of us, for the fans for the players, for the bench, and that is what a World Cup is all about," said U.S. boss Jurgen Klinsmann after Sunday's 2-2 draw with Portugal in Manaus, Brazil. "You live through those emotions positively and negatively. You just kind of cross it off then and move on. We have to move on quickly. We're going to take this point and do everything now just gearing toward Germany. We won't talk anymore about Portugal. That's now off the table."

For Klinsmann and crew, there is no choice but to move on — quickly. After all, there is still ample opportunity for the U.S. to advance out of the Group Stage and into the World Cup's knockout rounds. A result against Germany, any result, would push the team deeper into the tournament.

For us fans, however, that disappointment, that angst isn't so easy to dismiss.

And why should it be? This is our team, yours and mine.

It doesn't just represent one state, or one city. It stands for America, from San Diego to Portland, Maine, from Seattle to Miami, and everywhere in between.

And, much like our country, it's built from hard work.

"That's who we are," said U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley, who has received a lion's share of the criticism for the sequence that led to Portugal's equalizing goal. "We talk all the time about what we're like on the hardest day and when the spotlight comes on brightest. When the biggest tests come, what are we like? How do we respond in the difficult moments? I thought tonight was another example of us showing everybody who we are and what makes us a good team. Like I said, certainly disappointed that we don't finish off the job, but that's soccer — very cruel game sometimes."

The United States, while clearly on the rise over the past two decades, is a nation starved for soccer success. For every step forward has come a half-step back. The progression is clearly evident, but at times it feels the development is far too slow, that every time we as a nation are poised to step forward on the world stage, we falter.

When the draw for this World Cup was announced in December, few gave the U.S. any chance at all to advance from the so-called "Group of Death." With one match remaining, however, it's still a very real possibility that not only could we advance, but win the group as well.

"The United States is known to give everything they have in every single game," Klinsmann said. "We have that fighting spirit and that energy, that determination to do well in every single game. So, we're going to go into Recife very ambitious with a lot of confidence to beat Germany. We are right there; we have one foot in the door. We just have to take the second foot in there and get it done."

Working hard, with a fighting spirit, and getting it done — even if it mean's doing it the hard way.

What could be more American than that?

You can follow Justin Johnson on Twitter at: @jjohnson801 or email him at justinjohnson801@gmail.com.